THE  SEWERAGE 


OF  THE 


Village  of  Geneva, 


NEW  YORK. 


1894. 


6  Ale, -it 


THE  SEWERAGE 

OF  THE 


Vii.LAGE  OF  Geneva, 

'  » 


NEW  YORK. 


Report  of  Sewer  Commissioners,  -  March  22,  1894. 

Report  on  Plan  for  Sewers  and  Sewage  Disposal, 

June  8th,  1893,  J.  J.  R.  Croes,  C.  E. 

Statement  to  State  Board  of  Health, 

August  25th,  1893,  J.  J.  R.  Croes,  C.  E. 

Report  on  Disposal  of  Sewage  in  Seneca  Lake, 

October  i6th,  1893,  G.  W.  Rafter,  C.  E. 

Report  on  Sewage  Disposal, 

December,  28th,  1893,  Allen  Hazen,  Chemist. 


PRESS  OF 

QEO.  GOTTSBERGER  PECK 
WtfSRAY  CT.,  N.  Y. 


3$  7 


Report  of  the  Sewer  Commissioners. 


Geneva,  New  York,  March  22,  1894. 

To  THE  Taxpayers  of  the  Village  of  Geneva: 

The  Sewer  Commissioners  of  the  Village  of  Geneva,  appointed 
under  the  provisions  of  the  General  Village  Sewer  Act  of  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  report  that  in  compliance  with  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  said  law  they  employed  Mr.  J.  J.  R.  Croes,  a  competent 
engineer,  to  make  a  map  and  plan  for  a  permanent  system  of  sewerage 
for  the  Village,  with  such  specifications  of  dimensions,  connections  and 
outlets  as  would  be  approved  by  and  filed  with  the  State  Board  of 
Health,  and  that  such  map  and  plan  have  been  so  completed  and 
approved,  as  will  more  fully  appear  from  the  reports  of  the  engineer 
appended  hereto,  and  that  in  compliance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
law  a  copy  of  said  map  and  plan  was  opened  to  public  inspection  at 
the  Trustees’  rooms  in  the  Village  Building  on  the  13th  day  of  March, 
1894. 

This  Board  in  presenting  to  the  people  of  Geneva  this  system  of 
sewerage  for  the  Village  desire  to  say  that  the  people  at  large,  as  well 
as  the  members  of  this  Board,  are  very  largely  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  J.  R. 
Croes,  the  engineer  in  charge,  for  the  ultimate  approval  of  the  system 
by  the  State  Board  of  Health. 

:3r  When  the  plans  were  submitted  by  Mr.  Croes  to  the  State  Board 

of  Health  for  their  approval,  that  body  after  a  careful  examination  of 
the  proposed  system  was  not  satisfied  with  the  plan  for  sewage  dis¬ 
posal,  and  returned  the  plans  to  this  Board  for  amendment  in  that 
respect.  Mr.  Croes  thereupon  presented  fuller  arguments  in  support 
of  his  position,  and  with  the  consent  of  this  Board,  called  to  his  assist¬ 
ance  two  other  sanitary  engineers,  who  are  eminent  in  their  profession, 
and  they  after  a  most  careful  and  thorough  examination  of  the  matter 
made  separate  reports  in  which  they  pronounced  the  plans  fairly  beyond 
criticism,  and  showed  the  objections  made  by  the  State  Board  to  be 
untenable.  The  State  Board  finally,  upon  a  rehearing,  gave  the  plans 
as  first  submitted  to  them  their  unanimous  approval. 


We  are  of  the  opinion  that  if  the  citizens  of  this  Village  shall  intro¬ 
duce  the  system  of  sewerage  as  presented  by  the  plans,  they  will  have 
a  system  which  will  be  entirely  satisfactory  to  them. 

The  Commissioners  have,  by  resolution  passed  March  21,  1894, 
declared  their  intention  to  construct  a  portion  of  such  sewer  system, 
and  have  caused  plans  and  specifications  of  the  portion  thereof  pro¬ 
posed  to  be  constructed,  together  with  estimates  of  the  maximum  and 
minimum  cost  thereof,  to  be  made  and  opened  to  public  inspection. 

Such  resolution  is  as  follows : 

“  Resolved^  That  the  Board  of  Sewer  Commissioners  declare  their 
intention  to  construct  the  sewers  shown  upon  the  Plan  of  a  Permanent 
System  of  Sewerage  for  the  Village  of  Geneva,  New  York,  approved 
by  the  State  Board  of  Health  on  February  9th,  1894,  from  the  end  of 
the  outfall  pipe  in  Seneca  Lake,  900  feet  from  the  wharf  line  at  the  end 
of  Castle  Street,  west  to  the  centre  of  Oak  Street,  a  total  distance  of 
about  3,800  feet. 

“  That  the  estimated  maximum  expense  of  the  construction  of  the 
outlet  into  Seneca  Lake  is  $6,500,  and  the  estimated  minimum  expense 
is  $5,000 ;  and  that  the  whole  of  such  expense  shall  be  assessed  upon 
the  Village  at  large. 

“  That  the  estimated  maximum  expense  of  the  construction  of  the 
said  sewer  from  Seneca  Lake  west  through  Castle  Street  to  the  centre 
of  Oak  Street  is  $5,200,  and  the  estimated  minimum  expense  is  $4,000; 
and  that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  expense  mentioned  in  this  last 
paragraph  shall  be  assessed  upon  the  Village  at  large,  and  twenty-five 
per  cent,  thereof  shall  be  paid  by  local  assessments  upon  the  property 
owners  specially  benefitted.  And  that  the  area  of  such  local  assess¬ 
ment  shall  include  all  lands  and  places  lying  within  100  feet  of  the 
boundary  line  of  Castle  Street  on  each  side  thereof,  from  Seneca  Lake 
to  Oak  Street. 

“  And  that  a  special  election  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
whether  the  said  outlet  and  sewer  shall  be  constructed  will  be  held  at 
the  Trustees’  rooms  in  the  Village  Building  on  the  17th  day  of  April, 
1894,  from  eight  o’clock  in  the  morning  until  sundown  of  that  day.” 


D.  B.  Backenstose,  President, 
Stephen  Coursey, 

De  Witt  Hallenbeck, 

Daniel  Moore, 

Millard  F.  Blaine, 


1 

I 


Sewer 

Commissioners. 


4 


Report  to  tlie  Board  of  Sewer  Commissioners 
on  Plans  for  Sewers  and  Sewage  Disposal. 

By  J.  J.  R.  Croes,  M.  Am.  Soc.  C.  E.,  M.  Inst.  C.  E. 


68  Broad  Street,  New  York  City. 

June  8th,  1893. 

To  The  Honorable 

The  Board  of  Sewer  Commissioners, 

OF  THE  Village  of  Geneva,  New  York. 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  plans  for  a  Permanent  System  of  Sew¬ 
ers  for  the  Village  of  Geneva,  prepared  under  your  direction  and  to 
present  in  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  New  York  State 
Board  of  Health  the  following  statement  regarding  the  same  : 

Topography. 

The  Village  of  Geneva  is  situated  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Seneca  Lake,  which  is  about  35  miles  long,  averages  about  two  miles 
wide,  and  for  the  greater  portion  of  its  length  is  from  300  to  600  ft. 
in  depth.  The  outlet  of  the  Lake  is  at  the  northeast  corner  into  the 
Seneca  River,  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  centre  of  the  Village. 
At  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Lake,  and  in  front  of  the  Village, 
the  Seneca  and  Cayuga  Canal  furnishes  an  outlet  for  so  much  of  the 
water  of  the  Lake  as  is  needed  for  navigating  the  canal,  and  this  flows 
into  the  canalized  Seneca  River  a  short  distance  below  the  natural  out¬ 
let  of  the  Lake. 

The  general  depth  of  the  water  in  the  Lake  for  a  mile  from  its 
north  end  is  30  ft.  The  beach  of  the  Lake  is  of  gravel  sloping  quite 
regularly  from  high  water  mark,  so  that  at  400  ft.  from  the  shore,  the 
water  is  10  ft.  deep.  At  the  extreme  northwest  corner,  in  front  of  the 
business  portion  of  the  Village  and  canal  inlet,  a  channel  has  been 
dredged,  so  that  the  line  of  10  ft.  depth  comes  very  near  the  shore. 

The  Village  Limits  include  about  1,400  acres,  within  which  there 
are  laid  out,  and  more  or  less  occupied,  about  23  miles  of  streets. 

Directly  north  of  the  Lake,  there  is  a  tract  of  nearly  level  ground 
rising  to  an  elevation  of  about  10  or  12  ft.  above  the  Lake,  and  extend¬ 
ing  back  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  north  line  of  the  Village. 


S 


The  drainage  from  this  tract  and  also  from  a  strip  of  land  to  the 
westward,  about  one-half  of  a  mile  wide  and  rising  to  an  elevation  of 
6o  ft.  above  the  Lake,  is  carried  off  through  Marsh  Creek,  which  enters 
the  Village  from  the  north  and  empties  into  the  Seneca  and  Cayuga 
Canal,  2,000  ft.  from  the  inlet  lock.  This  stream  is  a  feeder  to  the 
canal,  and  it  is  liable  to  freshets  which  overflow  its  banks  and  inun¬ 
date  about  40  acres  of  land  within  the  Village  Limits. 

At  the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  the  Lake  another  creek 
enters  the  canal.  It  flows  through  a  ravine,  crossing  the  streets 
diagonally,  and  takes  its  rise  about  one  mile  to  the  northwestward. 

About  500  ft.  to  the  south  of  this  creek,  Castle  Creek  enters  the 
canal  basin  outside  of  the  guard-lock.  This  stream  has  quite  a  large 
drainage  area  to  the  westward  and  flows  through  a  ravine,  crossing  the 
streets  diagonally.  Its  channel  is  generally  from  8  to  10  ft.  below  the 
streets  which  it  crosses,  passes  through  back  yards,  and  in  many  cases 
has  been  covered  over  and  buildings  have  been  erected  immediately 
over  it. 

1,000  ft.  south  of  Castle  Creek  and  in  front  of  the  main  business 
portion  of  the  Village,  Cemetery  Creek  enters  the  Lake,  flowing  from 
a  generally  westerly  direction  through  the  centres  of  blocks  and  diag¬ 
onally  across  them  in  a  deep  ravine  for  nearly  a  mile. 

South  of  Cemetery  Creek  and  along  the  Lake  shore,  the  ground 
rises  rapidly  to  a  height  of  about  100  ft.  above  the  Lake,  but  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  Lake  another  depression  occurs  in  which  a  stream 
flows  to  the  south  and  empties  into  the  Lake  at  the  south  end  of 
the  Village  at  Mile  Point,  where  it  is  joined  by  another  stream  which 
flows  from  the  west  and  north,  about  one-half  a  mile  west  of  the  Lake, 
extending  up  to  the  divide  of  the  Cemetery  Creek  Valley. 

Natural  Water  Courses. 

These  various  streams  traversing  the  Village,  afford  excellent 
opportunities  for  surface  drainage  and  the  carrying  off  of  the  rain  water 
which  flows  from  the  steep  slopes  of  the  streets  without  injury  to  prop¬ 
erty  or  expensive  construction  for  rain  water  sewers.  The  ravines 
through  which  these  streams  flow  are  not  suitable  for  carrying  off  house- 
wastes,  although  they  have  been  utilized  for  that  purpose  to  a  consider¬ 
able  extent  and  several  sewers  have  been  built  discharging  directly  into 
the  open  channels  of  the  brooks  for  more  than  half  a  mile  from  their  outlet 
into  the  Lake.  The  channels  of  these  streams  are  tortuous,  their  beds 
are  gravelly  and  irregular,  their  course  is  through  private  property,  and 
the  streams  are  liable  to  sudden  and  extreme  fluctuations ;  consequently 
their  adaptation  to  the  purpose  of  carrying  off  house  sewage  would  in¬ 
volve  enormous  and  unnecessary  expense,  both  in  acquisition  of  prop¬ 
erty  and  the  construction  of  masonry  channels  large  enough  to  carry 


6 


i 


the  flow  even  of  ordinary  summer  rainfalls.  The  rectification  of  the 
channels  of  these  streams  and  their  regulation  so  as  to  prevent  damage 
from  freshets  and  the  keeping  of  the  open  water  courses  free  from  im¬ 
purities  may  properly  be  considered  a  part  of  the  duty  of  the  Sewer 
Commissioners  of  the  Village. 

Sewerage  System. 

The  first  step  towards  the  purification  of  these  streams  and  pre¬ 
venting  them  from  becoming  a  nuisance,  must  be  the  removal  from  them 
of  all  possibility  of  their  being  polluted  by  house  sewage  and  waste, 
and  with  this  in  view,  the  plan  presented  provides  for  a  complete  sys¬ 
tem  of  pipe  sewers  of  sufficient  size  to  carry  off  safely  all  house  drain¬ 
age  and  discharge  it  at  a  point  where  it  can  do  no  damage. 

The  size  of  sewers  best  adapted  for  carrying  off  the  house  sewage 
of  a  town  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  experiment.  A  large  number  of 
cities  and  towns  in  the  United  States  have  been  sewered  on  the  Separ¬ 
ate  System,  as  it  is  called,  and  it  has  been  found  that  the  most  effective 
service  has  been  rendered  and  the  least  number  of  stoppages  of  sewers 
have  occurred  where  the  least  size  of  sewer  pipe  is  8  inch  diam¬ 
eter. 

In  the  plan  submitted  for  Geneva,  the  smallest  sewers  are  made  of 
8  inch  diameter,  and  the  sizes  of  all  other  sewers  have  been  so  propor¬ 
tioned  that  a  discharge  of  225  gallons  an  hour  from  every  100  ft.  of 
street  tributary  to  the  sewer  will  cause  the  sewer  to  flow  one-half  full. 

To  ensure  proper  cleansing  of  the  sewers  at  the  upper  ends  of  the 
lines,  where  the  number  of  houses  is  small  and  at  no  time  is  there  any 
possibility  of  an  8  inch  pipe  running  half  full  from  the  sewage  collected 
from  the  houses,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  for  a  periodical  flushing  of 
the  sewer  by  other  water.  This  is  accomplished  by  means  of  flush 
tanks  into  which  water  from  the  public  supply  is  allowed  to  flow  grad¬ 
ually  until  the  tank  is  filled,  when  an  automatic  arrangement  provides 
for  the  sudden  emptying  of  the  contents  of  the  tank  into  the  sewer, 
flushing  out  all  deposits  which  may  have  taken  place. 

There  are  a  number  of  such  automatic  apparatus  in  the  market 
which  have  worked  very  successfully  in  many  cities  and  towns. 

Another  important  matter  is  that  full  provision  must  be  made  for 
the  circulation  of  air  through  the  sewers  without  any  sewer  gas  entering 
the  dwellings.  Full  provision  must  also  be  made  for  inspection  of  the 
interior  of  sewers  and  the  removal  of  stoppages,  which  are  inevitable 
in  consequence  of  the  carelessness  of  householders  in  permitting  im¬ 
proper  substances  to  enter  the  sewer. 

To  accomplish  these  objects,  man-holes  are  placed  at  all  intersec¬ 
tions  of  sewers,  and  at  all  changes  of  grade  and  direction  lampholes  are 
provided. 


7 


\ 


With  a  sufficient  number  of  such  man-holes  and  lampholes 
judiciously  located,  the  inspection  of  any  line  of  pipe  and  the  removal 
of  any  obstruction  therein  are  easily  accomplished. 

The  irregular  topography  of  the  most  thickly  settled  portion  of  the 
Village  of  Geneva  and  the  intersection  of  a  great  many  of  the  blocks  by 
natural  watercourses  considerably  below  the  level  of  the  adjacent  streets, 
make  the  arrangement  of  a  system  of  sewers  to  carry  off  house  wastes 
and  following  the  lines  of  streets  alone  a  somewhat  difficult  task. 

In  one  or  two  instances,  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  place  the 
sewers  at  a  greater  depth  than  that  which  is  necessary  for  proper  house 
drainage,  namely,  from  8  to  lo  ft.  below  the  surface.  One  of  these  cases 
occurs  on  Castle  Street  between  Oak  and  Main  Streets,  and  another  on 
William  Street  between  Pulteney  and  Main  Streets.  In  the  one  case 
a  cut  of  13.5  ft.  and  in  the  other  a  cut  of  18.5  ft.  are  required  for  a 
short  distance. 

r 

To  avoid  deep  cutting  on  Castle  Street,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
acquire  land  and  lay  an  additional  sewer  1,000  ft.  along  the  line  of 
Castle  Creek  from  Oak  to  Main,  and  to  avoid  the  short  deep  cutting  on 
William  Street,  it  would  be  necessary  to  purchase  a  right  of  way  and  lay 
an  additional  sewer  for  about  750  ft.  along  the  line  of  Cemetery  Creek. 

In  the  territory  south  of  Hamilton  Street,  there  is  a  natural  valley, 
the  outlet  of  which  is  at  Mile  Point  at  the  southern  end  of  the  Village. 
It  will  be  necessary  to  acquire  a  right  of  way  and  lay  outlet  sewers  in 
ravines  near  the  natural  course  of  the  brooks.  This  property  is  not 
built  up  as  yet,  nor  is  it  thoroughly  laid  out  in  streets,  so  that  the  same 
objections  would  not  apply  to  the  diversion  of  the  sewers  from  the 
present  lines  of  streets,  as  occur  in  thickly  settled  portions  of  the  Vil¬ 
lage  north  of  William  Street. 

The  newly  laid  out  sections  of  the  Village  lying  north  of  North 
Street  drain  mostly  to  the  north  into  Marsh  Creek,  which  enters  the 
Village  at  its  north  line  at  Exchange  Street. 

To  convey  the  sewage  from  this  district  to  its  outlet,  new  streets 
will  have  to  be  laid  out,  or  a  right  of  way  acquired  along  the  general 
course  of  Marsh  Creek  from  the  north  line  of  the  Village  to  the  Lake. 
To  render  the  district  for  at  least  500  feet  on  each  side  of  Marsh  Creek 
at  all  habitable,  it  will  be  necessary  to  raise  the  grades  of  the  streets 
and  the  surface  of  the  ground  several  feet. 

Sewage  Disposal. 

The  question  of  the  disposal  of  the  sewage  of  Geneva  is  import¬ 
ant.  It  will  not  do  under  any  circumstances  to  allow  the  crude  sewage 
to  discharge  into  Seneca  Lake  along  its  shores,  nor  should  it  be  so 
discharged  into  the  Seneca  and  Cayuga  Canal  with  its  contracted 


V 


channel,  lateral  lagoons  of  marsh,  and  sluggish  currents  of  one-third  to 
one-half  a  mile  per  hour. 

The  present  population  of  the  Village  is  about  9,000,  and  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  that  there  may  be  the  sewage  of  20,000  people  discharged  before 
many  years. 

While  the  sewer  outlets  are  made  capable  of  discharging  500,000 
gallons  per  day,  of  which  300,000  gallons  would  pass  through  the  Castle 
Street  sewer  and  150,000  through  the  Marsh  Creek  sewer,  the  actual 
outflow  from  all  the  sewers  cannot  for  many  years  to  come  be  as  great 
as  250,000  gallons  per  day.  By  discharging  this  into  the  lake  at 
such  distance  from  the  shore  that  the  water  will  be  at  least  ten  feet 
deep,  and  the  bottom  sloping  rapidly  towards  the  south  and  east,  the 
outlet  of  the  lake  at  Seneca  River  being  two  miles  distant,  and  the 
intervening  expanse  of  Lake  being  twenty  to  thirty  feet  deep,  agitated 
by  wind  and  wave  currents  from  the  great  and  deep  volume  of  water 
to  the  southward  and  swarming  with  fish,  no  damage  or  injury  to  health 
of  any  person  will  be  likely  to  occur. 

1  have  made  provision  for  the  discharge  of  the  sewage  into  the 
lake  in  this  manner  by  the  laying  of  submerged  pipes  at  the  sewer  out¬ 
falls,  discharging  the  sewage  into  water  at  least  ten  feet  deep  and  out¬ 
side  of  the  breakwaters  and  piers. 

By  a  connection  with  the  city  water  mains,  the  outlet  pipes  can  be 
flushed  thoroughly  as  often  as  necessary. 

Construction  of  the  Sewers. 

The  total  length  of  sewers  shown  on  the  plan  is  22.6  miles,  com¬ 
prising  all  the  streets  laid  out  on  the  Village  map  in  which  sewers  are 
needed. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  nor  desirable  to  construct  all  of  these 
sewers  at  once. 

The  district  south  of  Hamilton  Street  is  now  provided  for  by  a 
sewer  which  discharges  into  the  Lake  at  Mile  Point.  No  additions  to 
this  district  are  needed  at  the  present  time.  The  population  is  small, 
and  no  offense  is  created  by  the  sewer  which  has  been  there  some 
years. 

A  considerable  district  tributary  to  Cemetery  Creek  is  now  provided 
with  sewers  discharging  into  the  Creek.  Very  little  information  is  to 
be  had  concerning  the  location  or  depth  of  these  sewers,  or  the  manner 
of  their  construction.  It  is  probable  that  they  will  suffice  for  the 
present  for  the  streets  in  which  they  are  laid,  but  their  outlets  should  be 
diverted  from  the  creek  as  soon  as  it  can  possibly  be  done,  as  the  dis¬ 
charge  of  sewage  from  them  even  now  renders  the  creek  channel  offen¬ 
sive  in  dry  weather. 

There  are  also  sewers  laid  which  empty  into  Castle  Creek  at  Oak 


9 


I 


Street  and  between  Oak  and  Main  Streets.  These  outlets  should  also 
be  changed  as  soon  as  possible. 

It  is  very  desirable  that  the  whole  of  the  more  thickly  populated 
portion  of  the  Village  lying  east  of  Oak  Street  and  Pulteney  Street,  and 
between  North  and  Washington  Streets  should  be  sewered  at  as  early  a 
date  as  practicable. 

This  will  involve  the  construction  of  about  six  miles  of  sewers  vary¬ 
ing  from  8  to  i8  inches  diameter,  together  with  the  Castle  Street 
outlet. 

In  Castle  Street,  a  24-inch  sewer  has  been  laid  from  the  dock  to 
Elm  Street  at  private  expense.  It  is  possible  that  if  this  sewer  should 
be  found  on  examination  to  be  in  good  condition  and  properly  laid,  it 
may  be  utilized  for  a  portion  at  least  of  its  length  for  carrying  off  the 
sewage  from  the  district  west  of  Main  Street,  but  it  is  not  laid  deep 
enough  to  suffice  for  the  new  buildings  on  Castle  Street.  The  plan 
and  estimates  provide  for  the  construction  of  an  entirely  new  sewer 
here  if  it  should  be  found  necessary. 

The  estimated  cost  of  this  section  is  $36,000. 

Next  in  importance  is  the  drainage  of  the  territory  draining  into 
Marsh  Creek  east  of  Sherrill  and  Genesee  Streets. 

The  complete  drainage  of  this  territory  will  require  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  about  53^  miles  of  sewers,  including  the  Marsh  Creek  outlet. 

The  estimated  cost  of  this  section  is  $30,000. 

To  complete  the  whole  system  shown  on  the  plans,  would  cost 
approximately  $44,000  more,  making  the  total  cost  of  the  system, 
$110,000,  J.  J.  R,  Croes,  C.  E. 


The  Plans  and  Report  of  the  Engineer  were  adopted  by  the  Sewer 
Commissioners  of  Geneva  on  June  8th,  1893,  and  ordered  to  be  trans¬ 
mitted  to  the  State  Board  of  Health  for  approval. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  held  July  27th,  1893, 
the  Plans  and  Report  were  presented  together  with  a  report  from  the 
Consulting  Engineer  to  the  Board,  Mr.  J.  Bogart,  approving  the  plans 
of  sewerage,  but  declining  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  advisability 
of  discharging  the  crude  sewage  into  Seneca  Lake,  un  motion  of  Dr. 
Perkins  the  Plans  were  referred  back  to  the  Sewer  Commissioners  of  the 
Village  of  Geneva  for  the  addition  of  some  plan  for  purifying  the  sew¬ 
age  before  discharging  it  into  Seneca  Lake. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  held  August  25th, 
1893,  the  following  statement  was  presented  to  the  Board  by  the 
Engineer,  Mr.  J.  J.  R.  Croes  : 


10 


August,  25th,  1893. 

statement  to  the  State  Board  of  Health. 

The  Sewer  Commissioners  of  the  Village  of  Geneva  received  with 
considerable  surprise  notice  that  the  plans  for  a  system  of  sewerage 
for  that  Village  had  been  referred  back  in  consequence  of  the  lack  of  any 
provision  for  purification  of  the  sewage,  and  have  requested  me  to 
ask  that  the  State  Board  of  Health  will  give  further  consideration  to 
the  plans  before  requiring  any  different  system  from  that  which  is  pro¬ 
posed  in  the  reports,  and  which  we  believe  to  be  based  upon  scien¬ 
tific  principles  and  to  be  in  accordance  with  all  sanitary  requirements. 

The  entire  question  of  tlie  proper  disposal  of  sewage  of  towns  is 
still  in  an  experimental  stage.  Various  methods  have  been  proposed 
and  tried  for  the  purification  of  sewage.  One  of  the  most  effective  of 
these,  is  filtration  through  land,  which  requires  the  acquisition  of  a  large 
tract  of  ground  of  gravelly  material,  underdrained  to  a  depth  of  five  or 
six  feet.  The  effluent  from  these  drains  is  in  some  cases  satisfactory,  in 
others  not,  and  complaint  is  made  of  the  the  effluent  flowing  into  streams. 

Another  method  is  that  of  chemical  sedimentation,  in  which 
certain  chemicals  are  added  to  the  sewage;  the  solid  matters  are 
deposited  quickly  while  the  effluent  is  partially  purified  and  is  allowed 
to  flow  off;  the  sludge  which  is  deposited  being  either  carried  away, 
or  by  mechanical  means  compressed  into  cakes  and  consumed,  as  at 
the  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago,  in  a  Cremator. 

Another  method  which  has  attracted  attention  recently  is  that  of 
purification  by  Electrolysis.  This  method  is  still  in  an  experimental 
stage  entirely,  and  while  good  results  are  claimed  by  its  advocates,  its 
efficiency  is  not  acknowledged  by  all. 

All  of  these  methods  involve  a  considerable  expenditure. 

Another  method,  and  the  one  we  have  decided  to  adopt  in  the  case 
of  the  Geneva  sewage,  is  purification  by  high  dilution  ;  that  is  to 
say  :  the  introduction  of  the  sewage  into  a  large  body  of  fresh  water  at 
such  a  point,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  offense  will  not  be  created, 
and  the  natural  action  of  the  winds  and  the  waves  will  produce  com¬ 
plete  purification. 

Before  the  conclusion  was  reached  to  adopt  the  method  of  high 
dilution  for  the  purification  of  sewage,  all  other  possible  methods  were 
carefully  examined,  and  it  was  found  that  the  adoption  of  any  one  of 
them  would  involve  a  very  large  preliminary  expenditure,  amounting 
to  at  least  $30,000  to  $40,000.  After  having  discarded  for  this 
reason  all  systems  which  involved  carrying  the  sewage  a  distance  of 
two  or  three  miles  and  distributing  it  over  land,  or  treating  it  with 
chemicals  and  producing  an  effluent  of  doubtful  purity,  application 


was  made  to  the  constructors  of  the  recently  designed  method  of  purifi¬ 
cation  by  Electrolysis,  but  it  was  found  that  even  for  this  method  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  purification  of  only  50,000  gallons  a  day,  an  expenditure 
would  be  required  equivalent  to  about  $40,000.  That  is  to  say,  the 
plant  would  cost  $5,000,  but  the  operation  of  it  would  cost  $5  a  day, 
which  is  equivalent  to  the  interest  at  5  per  cent  on  $36,500. 

Now,  Geneva,  an  old  Village  of' about  9,000  inhabitants,  contains 
a  very  large  proportion  of  taxpayers  and  voters  who  are  loath  to  incur 
any  great  expenditure  for  public  improvements  which  are  innovations 
upon  the  customs  of  a  century.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  a  Sewer 
Commission  was  obtained,  and  the  decision  reached  to  have  plans  pre¬ 
pared  for  a  system  of  sewerage,  and  to  have  the  work  properly  inaugu¬ 
rated.  Before  the  commencement  of  the  works,  it  will  be  necessary  for 
a  vote  of  the  town  to  be  taken.  The  Sewer  Commissioners  feel  that  it 
will  be  utterly  impossible  to  procure  a  grant  of  any  very  large  sum  for 
preliminary  expenditures.  Possibly  the  sum  of  $12,000  or  $15,000 
might  be  raised  to  begin  the  work,  which  would  be  enough  to  construct 
the  sewers  most  needed  for  the  relief  of  the  more  populous  part  of  the 
town,  in  which  the  necessity  for  some  other  method  of  disposal  of  house 
wastes  than  the  present  is  imperative  for  sanitary  reasons. 

I  then  investigated  the  method  by  high  dilution,  and  concluded 
that  the  only  objection  to  its  adoption  was  a  purely  sentimental  one 
based  upon  insufficient  data  and  general  impressions  which  were  not 
substantiated  bv  the  facts. 

The  modes  in  which  offense  may  be  created,  or  injury  to  health  be 
caused,  by  the  introduction  of  sewage  into  a  body  of  water,  are  thus 
summarized  by  Messrs.  Hering,  Gray  and  Stearns  in.  their  Report  on 
the  Sewerage  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  June,  1890,  Ex.  Doc.  445, 
51st.  Cong.  p.  22. 

“(i.)  The  whole  body  of  water  may  be  made  offensive  to  the 
senses  by  the  insufficient  dilution  of  the  sewage  and  its  subsequent 
putrefaction. 

(2.)  The  particles  of  suspended  matter  in  the  sewage  may  be  de¬ 
posited  where  they  will  putrify  and  give  off  bubbles  of  offensive 
gases. 

(3.)  Sand,  gravel  and  other  heavy  substances  carried  along  by  the 
currents  in  the  sewers  may  deposit  near  the  outlet  and  obstruct  the 
waterway,  or  may  become  offensive  because  of  the  putrescible  matters 
precipitated. 

(4.)  The  coarser  substances  floating  in  the  sewage  or  upon  its 
surface  may  strand  on  the  shore.” 

In  cases  where  there  is  a  possibility  of  water  being  taken  for  drink¬ 
ing  or  domestic  uses  from  the  body  of  water  into  which  the  sewage  is 

12 


i 


discharged,  or  from  a  stream  fed  by  it,  there  must  be  added  to  these 
specifications  a  fifth  one,  viz.: 

(5.)  The  germs  of  disease  may  be  transmitted  from  the  sewage 
to  the  water  taken  for  drinking. 

With  reference  to  the  first  of  these  methods,  the  Report  above 
quoted  goes  on  to  say  :  “  It  has  been  found  by  experience  that  when 
sewage  is  mixed  with  a  sufficiently  large  volume  of  water,  it  is  entirely 
inoffensive,  and  chemical  changes  at  once  begin  which  will  in  time 
purify  the  whole  mass.  This  process  of  purification  is  not  very  rapid, 
but  being  mainly  a  process  of  oxidation,  no  offense  is  caused  thereby." 

In  the  case  of  the  proposed  discharge  into  the  Seneca  Lake  at  600 
ft.  from  the  nearest  wharf  or  shore  line,  with  an  expanse  of  water  two 
miles  wide  and  thirty  five  miles  long  in  front  of  the  outlet,  insufficient 
dilution  can  hardly  be  claimed.  This  water,  moreover,  is  in  a  constant 
state  of  circulation.  The  rapidity  of  this  circulation  depends  mainly 
on  the  atmospheric  conditions  at  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  wind 
is  one  powerful  agent  in  promoting  circulation,  but  its  influence  is 
rarely  felt  at  a  greater  depth  than  20  ft.,  and  below  that  the  temperature  of 
the  air  at  the  surface  is  the  effective  agent  in  producing  an  interchange 
of  the  lower  and  upper  strata  of  water. 

The  investigations  made  by  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Health  with  reference  to  the  circulation  of  water  in  lakes,  establish  the 
fact  that  in  large  and  deep  bodies  of  fresh  water,  the  temperature  at 
and  below  20  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  the  water  does  not  rise  above 
45*^.  When  the  temperature  is  higher  than  45*^,  the  underlying  water, 
except  to  the  limited  depth  at  which  the  wind  produces  agitation 
and  circulation,  is  stagnant  and  cannot  receive  air  enough  to  keep  it 
pure.  When  the  surface  temperature  falls  below  45°,  a  vertical  cir¬ 
culation  is  established  and  continues  until  the  return  of  warmer  weather 
checks  this  movement,  and  then  the  lower  strata,  even  in  many  very 
pure  lakes,  become  foul  and  offensive. 

Now  at  such  times,  the  introduction  into  the  cooler,  lower  strata 
of  a  volume  of  water  of  higher  temperature  from  a  sewer  will  by 
warming  the  bottom  water  create  a  circulation  and  consequent  pro¬ 
gress  towards  purification. 

It  is  noteworthy  in  this  connection  that  it  is  not  the  foul  sewage 
itself  which  will  at  first  tend  to  rise  to  the  surface,  but  the  water  which 
is  warmed  by  it,  for  the  reason  that  the  specific  gravity  of  the  fresh 
sewage  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  lake  water  surrounding  it  and 
into  which  it  is  discharged. 

The  specific  gravity  of  the  Lakes  in  Central  New  York  as  ob¬ 
tained  in  the  course  of  the  examinations  which  I  made  for  the  water 
supply  of  Syracuse  in  1887,  averages  about  i. 000 15. 


13 


From  the  analyses  of  sewage  of  several  towns,  made  by  the  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  State  Board  of  Health  and  the  statistics  of  the  sewage  of 
numerous  English  cities  and  of  Berlin,  published  in  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  the  specific  gravity  of  crude  sewage 
averages  i. 0012 2.  The  difference  between  the  two  may  be  more 
easily  comprehended  by  saying  that  one  million  gallons  of  lake  water 
weighs  3,719.8  tons,  while  the  same  quantity  of  sewage  weighs  3,723.6 
tons,  a  difference  of  3.8  tons  for  each  million  gallons. 

In  the  case  under  consideration,  it  is  proposed  to  discharge  the 
sewage  under  a  head  into  the  lake  at  a  depth  of  15  ft.  at  a  point  where 
the  bottom  is  hard  and  smooth  and  sloping  about  one  foot  in  one  hun¬ 
dred  in  the  direction  of  the  discharge. 

In  calm  weather  there  appears  to  be  a  very  slight  surface  current 
outward  at  this  point. 

The  introduction  of  the  warmer  and  heavier  water  from  the  sewer 
into  the  cooler  strata  of  the  Lake  water  in  this  manner,  must  tend  to 
produce  circulation  and  a  gradual  intermingling  of  the  two  waters  until 
a  uniform  temperature  and  specific  gravity  are  obtained.  This  process 
will  be  moreover  aided  and  accelerated  by  the  frequent  passage  of  the 
steamboats  which  ply  on  the  Lake,  and  which  approach  and  leave 
their  dock  on  a  route  between  the  basin  at  Castle  Street  and  the  site  of 
the  proposed  outfall  of  the  sewage.  The  waves  and  currents  produced 
by  these  boats  will  tend  to  carry  the  sewage  away  from  the  inlet  to  the 
Cayuga  and  Seneca  Canal  and  towards  the  main  body  of  water  in  the 
Lake. 

Under  these  conditions  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  possibility 
of  offence  being  created  by  putrefaction  of  the  effluent,  which  is  by  the 
design  and  construction  of  the  sewer  system  limited  to  fresh  household 
sewage  free  from  heavy  or  coarse  substances  such  as  are  carried  off 
from  street  and  yard  surfaces  by  the  flow  of  rain  water. 

As  regards  the  effect  on  the  health  of  riparian  residents,  either  on 
the  Lake,  or  along  its  outlet,  the  Seneca  River,  there  does  not  appear 
to  be  any  possibility  of  disease  germs  being  transported  from  the  point 
of  discharge  of  the  sewage  to  the  only  two  points  from  which  a  supply 
of  drinking  water  is  drawn  from  Seneca  Lake  or  River,  the  intake  pipe 
of  the  Geneva  Water  Works  Co.,  in  25  ft.  water,  600  ft.  from  the  shore 
three  miles  to  the  westward,  and  the  pumping  station  of  the  Waterloo 
Water  Co.,  on  the  canalized  Seneca  River,  seven  miles  from  Geneva. 
Between  the  sewer  and  the  outlet  of  the  Lake  into  Seneca  River,  there 
are  two  miles  of  Lake  surface,  the  general  depth  of  the  water  being 
25  ft.  for  most  of  the  distance. 

The  entire  drainage  and  sewage  of  Geneva  now  passes  into  the 
Canal,  which  runs  along  the  north  shore  of  the  Lake  for  two  miles  and 


then  joins  the  river.  The  canalized  river  from  thence  to  Seneca  Falls 
is  bordered  by  swampy  lagoons. 

The  supply  for  Waterloo  which  is  used  to  only  a  very  limited 
.  extent,  if  at  all,  for  domestic  purposes,  is  drawn  from  the  canal  into  a 
smaller  basin  and  thence  pumped  to  a  stand  pipe. 

The  water  in  the  canal  is  turbid  and  unpleasant  looking,  and  the 
intake  basin  at  Waterloo  is  filled  with  an  abundant  growth  of  algae. 

The  entire  diversion  of  the  drainage  of  Geneva  from  the  Canal 
into  the  Lake  would  be  beneficial  to  the  water  supply  of  Waterloo.  If 
for  no  other  reason,  it  would  be  so  by  retarding  the  passage  of  the 
water  over  the  intervening  space  by  passing  it  through  the  Lake  instead 
of  the  Canal. 

In  the  self-purification  of  water,  time  is  a  vital  element,  for  the 
reason  that  recent  investigations  show  disease  germs  to  be  short  lived 
in  large  bodies  of  water,  and  they  do  not  increase  even  in  sewage  pol¬ 
luted  water.  As  is  stated  by  Mr.  Hiram  F.  Mills,  the  engineer  in 
charge  of  the  Lawrence  Experiment  Station  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Board  of  Health  :  “  The  short  period  of  existence  of  typhoid  fever 
germs  in  such  waters  presents  the  probable  reason  why  typhoid  fever 
may  be  readily  carried  down  a  river  from  city  to  city  using  the  water 
for  drinking,  while  a  polluted  stream  may  enter  one  end  of  a  large  pond 
whose  waters  are  changed  only  after  months,  and  a  water  supply  drawn 
from  the  opposite  end  may  be  continually  free  from  the  disease  pol¬ 
lution.” 

In  fact,  the  proposed  method  of  introduction  of  the  sewage  into 
the  Lake  seems  to  fulfil  the  conditions  prescribed  by  Dr.  Thomas  M. 
Drown  in  his  report  on  the  aeration  of  natural  waters,  where  he  says  : 
“  In  cases  where  it  would  be  possible  to  bring  about  a  circulation  of  an 
entire  body  of  water  during  the  warmer  months,  so  that  the  lower  layers 
would  be  brought  to  the  surface  and  stagnation  prevented,  we  would 
have  an  effective  aeration  of  the  water  with  the  prevention  of  the  accu¬ 
mulation  of  products  of  decomposition.” 

If  further  confirmation  be  desired  of  the  correctness  of  the  prin¬ 
ciples  on  which  the  proposed  disposition  of  sewage  is  recommended,  it 
may  be  found  in  the  action  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Health  in  advising  in  June,  1891,  that  the  sewage  of  West  Springfield 
be  discharged  into  the  Connecticut  River  by  means  of  a  pipe  extend¬ 
ing  to  deep  water,  and  that  the  sewage  of  Springfield  be  carried  by 
submerged  pipe  outlets  into  deep  water,  in  the  Connecticut  River,  from 
which  the  City  of  Hartford  takes  a  considerable  proportion  of  its  water 
supply  some  miles  further  down  the  stream. 

J.  J.  R.  Croes,  C.  E. 


4 

15 


To  obtain  additional  testimony  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  prin¬ 
ciples  on  which  the  plans  recommended  were  based,  the  Sewer  Com¬ 
missioners,  at  the  request  of  the  Engineer,  had  examinations  made  by 
Mr.  George  W.  Rafter,  C.  E.,  of  Rochester,  and  Mr.  Allen  Hazen, 
Chemist  to  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Flealth.  whose  Reports 
were  as  follows  : 

Report  of  G.  W.  Rafter,  M.  Am.  Soc.  C.  E. 

Mt.  Morris,  N.  Y.,  October  i6th,  1893. 

To  the 

Sewer  Commissioners,  of  the  Village  of  Geneva,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen  ; 

Pursuant  to  arrangement,  I  visited  Geneva  on  Friday,  September 
29th,  for  the  purpose  of  looking  over  the  proposed  method  of  sewage 
disposal.  In  the  forenoon  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  in  company 
with  Mr.  Croes,  members  of  your  board  and  a  number  of  citizens  in¬ 
terested  in  the  success  of  the  sewer  project,  and  from  them  gained  a 
knowledge  of  the  general  features  of  the  case.  In  the  afternoon  Mr. 
Croes  and  myself  looked  over  the  Village  and  surrounding  territory  in 
detail. 

The  plans  for  sewerage  are  fairly  beyond  criticism  and  the  only 
question  needing  special  discussion  is  as  to  the  adequacy  of  the  method 
of  disposal  which  has  been  proposed.  It  appears  unnecessary  to  con¬ 
sume  time  in  any  preliminary  statement,  and  we  may  at  once  approach 
the  main  question,  which  is  presented  in  essentially  the  following  form, 
namely,  can  a  limited  amount  of  sewage  be  discharged  into  Seneca 
Lake  at  the  points  proposed — a  distance  of  600  ft.  or  more  from  the 
shore  line — without  danger  to  the  health  of  either  the  citizens  of 
Geneva,  whose  water  supply  is  drawn  from  the  Lake  at  a  point  about 
three  miles  from  its  foot,  or  the  health  of  the  citizens  of  Waterloo,  whose 
water  supply  is  drawn  from  the  Seneca  River  at  a  point  which  is  dis¬ 
tant  about  five  miles  from  the  foot  of  the  lake  and  about  seven  miles 
from  the  point  of  proposed  discharge,  there  being  two  miles  of  broad 
lake  between  the  point  of  discharge  at  Geneva  and  the  point  where 
the  Seneca  River  issues  from  Seneca  Lake. 

The  general  principle  governing  the  relation  of  public  water  sup¬ 
plies  to  sewage  discharge  may  be  enunciated  in  the  following  form  : 

“  Crude  sewage  should  never  be  discharged  into  any  body  of  water 
used  as  a  public  water  supply  within  the  influence  of  the  sewage.” 
The  principal  thus  announced  recognizes  that  there  are  certain  self- 
purifying  agencies  through  the  operation  of  which  sewage  is  in  due 
course  rendered  innocuous,  and  the  foregoing  may  be  taken  as  the 


amended  form  of  the  statement  that  “  Crude  sewage  should  never  be 
discharged  into  any  body  of  water  which  at  any  point  whatever  in  its 
career  is  to  be  used  as  a  water  supply.” 

In  Massachusetts,  the  legislature  has  formally  recognized  that 
streams  may  become  purified  through  the  action  of  various  natural 
forces,  and  in  the  8oth  Chapter  of  the  Public  Statutes  of  that  State 
it  is  accordingly  provided  that  crude  sewage  shall  not  be  discharged  in 
any  stream  used  as  a  public  water  supply  within  a  distance  of  20 
miles ;  beyond  20  miles  there  is  no  prohibition  on  the  discharge  of 
crude  sewage  into  streams  also  used  as  sources  of  public  water 
supplies. 

The  Massachusetts  statute,  while  interesting  as  illustrating  the 
practical  solution  arrived  at  in  that  state,  is  still  philosophically  defec¬ 
tive,  for  the  reason  that  it  neither  recognizes  degrees  of  pollution  nor 
distinguishes  between  running  streams  and  lakes,  although  it  is  clear 
that  entirely  different  conditions  may  obtain  in  a  lake  from  that  found 
in  a  river. 

In  the  present  case,  I  am  informed  that  the  discharge  will  not 
exceed  250,000  gallons  in  24  hours  for  some  years  to  come;  and  the 
inquiry  is  further  narrowed  so  far  as  the  immediate  future  is  concerned, 
to  considering  the  effect  of  this  daily  discharge  upon  the  potable 
qualities  of  the  waters  of  Seneca  Lake  and  River. 

,  For  illustrative  purposes,  we  will  assume  that  the  assumed  250,000 
gallons  daily  discharge  represents  the  house  sewage  of  5,000  people. 
Let  us  determine  the  relation  of  this  to  the  volume  of  water  included 
in  an  area  of  four  square  miles  at  the  foot  of  the  Lake. 

We  will  throw  out  of  consideration  kitchen  and  manufacturing 
wastes,  which  so  far  as  the  present  case  is  concerned  are  unimportant, 
and  confine  ourselves  entirely  to  considering  the  effect  of  the  excre¬ 
ments  of  5,000  persons  on  the  area  in  question, 

According  to  the  researches  of  Wolff  and  Lehmann,  the  total 
excrements,  liquid  and  solid,  of  the  average  person  of  a  mixed  pop¬ 
ulation  amounts  to  843.9  pounds  per  year,  or  2.31  pounds  per  day. 
The  total  excrements  of  5,000  average  persons  of  a  mixed  population 
will  therefore  amount  to  11,350  pounds  per  day. 

The  average  depth  of  the  lower  two  miles  of  the  Lake  may  be 
taken  at  somewhat  over  30  ft.,  and  we  have  the  number  of  pounds  of 
water  in  four  square  miles  of  area  equal  to  about  210,000,000,000 
pounds.  Into  this  amount  of  pure  lake  water,  it  is  proposed  to  pour 
daily  1 1,350  pounds  of  human  excrement.  Assuming  thorough  dif¬ 
fusion  throughout  the  whole  of  the  four  square  miles  under  consider¬ 
ation,  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  pounds  of  lake  water  to  daily 
sewage  discharge  is  represented  by  the  quantity  0.000,000,054,050, 


that  is  to  say  one  pound  of  lake  water  would  contain  0.000,000,054 
pounds  of  excrement,  providing  the  self-purifying  agencies  act  rapidly 
enough  to  prevent  any  accumulation  from  day  to  day,  and  that  they 
will  so  act  under  the  assumed  conditions  there  seems  no  reason  to 
doubt.  As  assisting  judgment  on  this  point,  let  us  further  consider 
that  0.000,000,054,050  pounds  of  excrement  per  pound  of  water 
means  only  0.003  grains  per  gallon,  or  expressed  in  another  way  it  is 
equivalent  to  0.0054  parts  per  100,000  parts.  ^ 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  foregoing  computation  is  based  upon  the 
total  daily  weight  of  excrement  both  solid  and  liquid.  But  a  portion 
of  both  is  mineral  matter,  sodium  chloride  forming,  for  instance,  a 
considerable  part  of  the  urine.  Again  a  major  portion  of  the  excre¬ 
ments  is  water.  If  the  proper  deductions  are  made  for  these  elements, 
the  weight  of  organic  matter  actually  remaining  is  so  small  that  it  will 
be  hardly  appreciable  when  thoroughly  diffused  by  the  most  delicate 
chemical  tests. 

In  the  foregoing  the  relation  between  the  amount  of  sewage  to 
be  disposed  of  and  quantity  of  water  available  for  its  dilution  has 
been  presented.  Let  us  now  consider  the  agencies  available  for  its 
reduction  to  innocuous  forms  after  thorough  dilution. 

The  self-purification  of  streams,  ponds  and  lakes  is  effected 
through  the  agency  of  the  minute  plant  and  animal  life  which  we 
now  know  inhabits  all  natural  waters  in  countless  myriads.  First 
among  such  agencies  we  may  place  the  nitrous  and  nitric  organisms^ 
whose  office  in  the  economy  of  things  is  to  effect  the  reduction  of  com¬ 
plex  nitrogenous  matter  from  its  original,  and  so  far  as  the  present 
case  is  concerned,  dangerous  form  to  the  simpler  form  of  harmless 
mineral  nitrites  and  nitrates  and  innocuous  gases.  These  organisms 
develop  in  all  soils  and  are  carried  therefrom  into  streams  and  lakes 
by  every  rainfall,  where,  so  long  as  organic  matter  is  present,  they 
continue  to  exist,  multiply  and  perform  their  appointed  task  in  the 
way  of  reduction  of  the  same  to  harmless  forms.  The  nitrifying  or¬ 
ganisms  are  entirely  without  effect  upon  human  beings. 

So  far  as  the  writer  is  informed,  no  examinations  have  yet  been 
made  as  to  the  number  of  nitrifying  organisms  present  in  the  waters  of 
the  Central  New  York  Lakes,  but  enough  is  known  to  justify  saying 
that  they  exist  there  in  quantity. 

In  addition  to  the  nitrifying  organisms  which  are  exceedingly 
minute  in  size,  there  are  other  classes  of  life  of  larger  size,  chiefly  ani¬ 
mal  ;  as  for  instance,  the  infusoria,  rotifera,  and  entomostraca,  all  of 
which  have  been  studied  in  these  waters  and  found  to  exist  abundantly 
and  whicli  are  the  natural  scavengers  of  fresh  water.  Among  these  the 
entomostraca  are  especially  important  by  reason  of  their  prevalence  in 


vast  quantity  in  all  these  waters  Fresh  sewage  appears  to  be  the 
natural  food  of  this  class  of  animals,  and  when  present  in  not  too  great 
quantity  in  the  water  which  they  inhabit,  they  devour  it  with  avidity. 
All  these  various  classes  of  animals  continue  in  active  existence  through¬ 
out  the  whole  year.  The  nitrifying  organisms  also  exist  through  the 
whole  year,  but  are  somewhat  less  active  in  winter  than  in  summer.. 

We  come  now  to  the  final  question,  namely;  even  admitting  the 
continuous  action  of  the  self  purifying  agencies  in  the  manner  detailed, 
are  they  still  certain  to  destroy  all  disease  germs  should  such  be  present 
before  any  can  reach  either  the  intake  at  Geneva  or  Waterloo  ?  In 
answer,  it  must  be  stated  that  we  have  as  yet  no  way  of  absolutely  de¬ 
termining  when  the  self-purifying  agencies  have  completed  their  work. 
In  the  present  case,  the  amount  of  matter  to  be  cared  for  with  250,000 
gallons  daily  discharge  is  so  small  in  comparison  with  the  forces  acting 
to  reduce  it,  that  there  are  strong  reasons  for  assuming  complete  reduc¬ 
tion  within  the  limits  of  the  two  mile  area  which  we  have  been 
specially  considering. 

As  a  matter  of  judgment,  therefore,  the  undersigned  is  of  the 
opinion  that  sewage  may  be  discharged  into  Seneca  Lake  in  the  manner 
proposed  by  Mr.  Croes,  up  to  the  limit  of  daily  quantity  of  250,000 
gallons  without  prejudice  to  either  the  Geneva  or  Waterloo  water 
supplies.  It  is  even  probable  that  a  somew^iat  greater  quantity  than 
250,000  gallons  per  day  could  be  discharged  without  extending  the 
limit  of  influence  of  the  sewage  to  either  the  water  works  intakes. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

Geo.  W.  Rafter. 


Report  of  Allen  Hazen, 

On  Plans  for  Sewage  Disposal  at  Geneva,  New  York. 


J.  J.  R.  Croes,  C.  E., 

68  Broad  Street,  N.  Y 


Lawrence,  Mass,  Dec.  28, 


Dear  Sir: — Yours  of  19th  is  at  hand,  with  enclosed  copies  of 
your  reports  of  June  8th  and  August  25th,  and  G.  W.  Rafter,  C.  E.’s, 
report  of  October  i6th,and  maps  of  Geneva  and  Seneca  Lake,  showing 
proposed  discharge  of  sewage,  water  works  intakes,  etc.,  and  also  other 
memoranda  in  regard  to  the  proposed  disposal  of  the  Sewage  of  Geneva, 
N.  Y.,  by  discharging  it  into  Seneca  Lake  through  submerged  sewers, 
extending  outside  of  the  breakwater  and  piers,  into  water  at  least  ten 
feet  deep. 


In  the  first  place,  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  there  will  be  no  local 
nuisance  caused  by  the  proposed  discharge  of  sewage  and,  the  drinking 
water  question  aside,  there  can  be  no  damage  to  the  residents  of 
Geneva  or  other  towns  in  any  way.  As  I  believe  there  is  no  question 
in  regard  to  this  point,  we  may  at  once  consider  the  question  as  to 
the  possible  effect  of  the  proposed  discharge  of  sewage  upon  the  water 
supplies  of  Geneva  and  of  Waterloo, 

In  regard  to  the  water  supply  of  Waterloo,  your  point  is  well 
taken,  that  the  diversion  of  the  drainage  of  Geneva  from  the  canal  to 
the  lake,  thereby  delaying  its  passage  to  the  river  and  in  the  mean¬ 
time  subjecting  it  to  the  purifying  influences  existing  in  the  lake,  would 
be  beneficial  to  the  water  supply  taken  from  the  canal  or  river  some  five 
miles  below  the  lake. 

The  one  disease  which  can  more  frequently  than  any  other  be 
traced  to  polluted  water,  is  typhoid  fever  and  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge,  the  amount  of  typhoid  fever  in  a  city  when  it  can  be  traced 
to  the  water  supply  affords  the  best,  in  fact  the  only  tangible  index  of 
the  effects  of  the  pollution.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  pollution 
of  a  water  supply  affects  the  health  of  many  of  those  who  do  not  have 
typhoid  fever,  but  there  are  as  yet  no  reliable  statistics  available  upon 
this  point  except  for  Asiatic  Cholera,  and  that  is  well  known  to  dis¬ 
seminate  itself  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  does  typhoid  fever,  and 
the  places  where  typhoid  fever  is  abundant  are  the  places  most  likely 
to  suffer  from  cholera.  It  may  fairly  be  said  that  if  the  pollution  of 
the  water  supplied  to  a  community  does  not  produce  typhoid  fever 
among  some  of  those  who  use  it,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it 
injures  their  health  in  any  way. 

I  have  had  occasion  to  investigate  the  relations  between  the  pol¬ 
lution  of  a  number  of  water  supplies  and  the  typhoid  fever  among 
the  users  of  waters,  and  in  every  case  which  has  come  to  my  knowl¬ 
edge  where  the  health  of  the  community  has  been  affected,  the  water 
has  been  infected  in  s*uch  a  way  that  the  infection  was  able  to  pass 
from  the  point  of  pollution  to  the  consumers  of  the  water  in  a  direct 
manner  and  in  a  moderately  short  space  of  time. 

The  quantity  of  infectious  material  necessary  to  produce  disease  is 
extraordinarily  small,  but  all  the  facts  available  point  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  must  be  conveyed  speedily  to  its  destination  if  it  is  to  do  its 
work,  and  that  delay  and  exposure  in  the  water  of  the  lake  will 
very  rapidly  reduce  the  powers  of  the  infection  until  it  disappears. 

The  epidemics  of  typhoid  fever  in  the  cities  drinking  water  from 
the  Merrimac  River  have  resulted  from  infections  which  from  the 
nature  of  the  supplies  were  capable  of  finding  their  way  promptly, 
although  in  a  much  diluted  form,  into  the  public  water  supplies,  and. 


20 


so  far  as  I  have  been  able  lo  ascertain,  the  same  is  true  of  other  epi¬ 
demics  from  the  use  of  polluted  river  waters. 

In  the  cases  where  bad  results  have  followed  the  use  of  lake 
waters  also,  the  pollution  has  usually  been  gross  and  the  water  intakes 
have  been  near  the  sewer  outlets.  At  Chicago,  the  sewage  of  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  perhaps  300,000  is  discharged  directly  into  Lake  Michigan, 
and  the  Chicago  River,  which  receives  the  sewage  from  nearly  a  mill- 
lion  other  people,  often  discharges  into  the  Lake.  Until  December 
8th,  1892,  water  for  drinking  was  drawn  among  other  places  from  a 
point  less  than  a  mile  from  shore,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago 
River  with  its  discharge  of  enormous  volume  of  sewage  and  the  results 
were  unquestionably  bad.  During  the  past  year,  since  the  completion 
of  the  four  mile  tunnel,  no  water  has  been  taken  from  points  nearer 
than  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  or 
nearer  than  one  mile  from  the  outlets  of  other  sewers  and  as  a 
result  there  has  been  a  reduction  of  60  per  cent,  in  the  typhoid  fever 
death  rate  of  the  city,  showing  conclusively  the  advantages  of  increased 
dilution  and  reduced  chances  of  the  sewage  flowing  directly  to  the 
water  intakes.  This  of  course  is  with  an  enormously  greater  volume 
of  sewage,  probably  a  hundred  times  as  much  as  will  be  discharged 
at  Geneva,  and  can  only  be  used  as  showing  that  danger  rapidly 
decreases  as  dilution  and  time  increase. 

There  are  as  yet  no  figures  which  show  at  what  dilutions  and 
after  what  intervals  the  infectious  matter  of  sewage  loses  its  power,  but 
so  long  as  there  are  no  cases  on  record  where  bad  results  have  been 
obtained  from  dilutions  at  all  comparable  to  the  one  proposed,  with  a 
small  population  three  miles  from  the  water  works  intake  and  with  a 
broad  and  deep  lake  between,  it  is  but  fair  to  suppose  that  in  this  case 
the  danger  of  infection  of  the  drinking  water  will  be  extremely  small, 
too  small  to  justify  the  construction  of  costly  sewage  purification 
works. 

In  regard  to  the  treatment  of  sewage  by  chemicals,  it  is  possible 
to  disinfect  sewage  by  using  excessive  quantities  of  lime  or  other  dis¬ 
infectants,  but  the  ordinary  chemical  precipitation  of  sewage  does  not 
do  so.  The  bacteria  are  not  even  injured  by  the  chemicals  em¬ 
ployed.  A  considerable  portion  of  them  are  often  carried  mechani¬ 
cally  to  the  bottom  with  the  sludge  and  are  so  removed  from  the  sew¬ 
age  and  the  effluent  is  then  less  dangerous  than  crude  sewage, 
although  still  capable  of  infecting  a  water  supply  when  crude  sewage 
would  do  so.  In  case  the  sewage  of  Geneva  should  be  treated,  as  a 
precaution  against  the  pollution  of  its  water  supply,  a  land  treatment 
so  arranged  as  to  remove  all  bacteria  from  the  sewage  would,  in  my 
opinion,  be  the  most  effective  and  desirable  method. 


in  regard  to  the  infection  of  the  water  by  canal  or  excursion  boats, 
I  should  say  that  if  the  sewage  from  the  canal  boats  is  discharged  into 
the  canal,  the  danger  of  infection  to  the  water  in  the  canal  would  be 
infinitely  greater  than  that  from  the  entrance  of  the  highly  diluted  sew¬ 
age  from  the  lake  after  passing  the  two  miles  of  lake  from  the  sewers 
to  the  entrance  of  the  canal. 

In  the  same  way,  a  single  excursion  steamer  passing  the  intake  of 
the  Geneva  water  works  might  easily  infect  the  water  in  a  way  that 
would  result  in  more  harm  than  would  be  caused  by  the  sewage  of  the 
entire  city  discharged  three  miles  away. 

In  conclusion,  I  am  of  the  opinion,  from  the  data  presented  and 
from  my  knowledge  of  infected  water  supplies,  that  in  the  proposed 
discharge  of  sewage  at  Geneva,  the  danger  to  the  health  of  the  users 
of  water  taken  from  the  present  intakes  is  too  small  to  justify  the  con¬ 
struction  of  expensive  purification  works. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

Allen  Hazen. 

The  above  Reports  were  presented  to  the  State  Board  of  Health 
at  a  meeting  held  at  the  City  of  Albany  on  January  14th,  1894,  and 
were  referred  to  the  State  Engineer,  Mr.  Campbell  W.  Adams,  and 
the  Consulting  Engineer,  Mr.  John  Bogart,  who  presented  a  verbal 
report  at  a  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  held  at  the  Murray 
Hill  Hotel,  New  York  City,  on  February  9th,  1894,  to  the  effect  that 
there  would  be  no  danger  of  injurious  effects  from  the  proposed 
method  of  disposal. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Cyrus  PMson  the  Plans  and  Specifications,  as 
presented  by  Mr.  Croes,  were  unanimously  approved  by  the  Board. 


22 


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J.  James  R.  Croes, 

M.  Am,  Soc.  C.E.;  M.  Inst.  C.  E., 

68  BROAD  STREET,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Examinations  and  Reports  made  on  Projects  for  Water-Supply  and 

Sewerage  of  Towns. 

Plans  and  Specifications  prepared  and  Work  of  Construction 

superintended. 


